Digimon Force 1: Dawn of the Tamers
by Roseamongthorns
Summary: On a dark and stormy night, an innocent demo assist a threatening Digimon in getting access to the human world. Eleven years later, children are selected to obtain Digimon partners and to overcome the evil that threatens both worlds. Please review :
1. Prologue

_**DIGIMON FORCE 1: Dawn of the Tamers**_

People always wonder, what would it be like if this, that, or the other were real? What if I was the chosen one? What if I was destined to be the greatest of them all, or the one who has a great unknown fate that is a mystery to everyone? _What if?_

That's usually how a question or theory begins, with a single _what if?_

And that is exactly what humans said over the years, ever since the beginning of time itself. They would ask themselves the possibilities, and set to work with what they believed. All of this led to many amazing things, such as the steam engine, automobiles, the light bulb, and even the invention of glue and tape. All of these creations, and more came into the planet known as Earth, where humans walked without a care, and where everything was normal.

Earth was where strange things didn't just happen. That is, until one particular invention came into physical form. That invention, known to many as the computer, opened the door to more than just the web and Microsoft. It led to another world, another dimension where humans didn't rule. A place where humans weren't even known about.

The computer opened a door, a gateway possibly, to that world, but a door always needs a key. It wasn't until the year 1992 that a key was produced, known to humans as the Internet. The Internet opened that gateway, and once everyone began using the Internet, that other world was formed. Every download and every click of a mouse contributed data that formed into this other world, a world that was more digital than anything.

Few knew about this world, but those who did referred to it as the Digital World, and there life forms known as Digimon lived lives very similar to humans. Their data came with images of human things, and they grew from this and were taught by this, and they were all mainly good creatures. However, like there is evil in the human world, there is evil in theirs.

Viruses also existed inside computers, and could be accidentally obtained by humans from the Internet. They could be unaware that their computers had spyware and such, but every click of a virus infected computer contributes an ounce of evil data into the Digital World, and this forms the evil and sorrow of that usually good world.

The Digital World was once the good counterpart of our world, with innocence and youth, where the creatures never truly died. And they used to live without human contact, always with the possibility of coming into contact with one. But, these encounters never occurred…until now.

…

_7:52 pm, March 6__th__ 1999_

"Damn rain!" His jet-black hair barely shielded from the moisture by a single damp newspaper, Ichirō Ogawa searched through his cluttered coat pocket for his set of house keys. There were sloshing footsteps as his soaked canvas sneakers marched up the front concrete steps and under the shelter of a wide porch roof.

Drip, drip, drip. The sound of rain falling echoed in the eerie night air, which made Ichirō want to get inside the house even faster. With trembling hands, the sixteen year old managed to push a key into the brass door lock, and turn it, causing the off-white door to finally open.

Quicker than the lightning that was beginning to erupt, Ichirō ran inside the house, pulling the front door behind him in the process. He locked it, took of his damp overcoat, and let out a breath of relief. With still trembling hands, Ichirō ran his fingers through his wet, tousled hair as he began to turn on lights.

Luckily, the lightning wasn't too severe, since no light bulbs flickered or dimmed. Ichirō made his way down the wooden hallway of his one-story, four bedroom home. His parents were still out having dinner, something that was pretty obvious. Ichirō didn't mind much, since this usually left a lot of time to himself.

The only other person in the house was his younger brother, Eiji, whose video game playing could be heard all throughout the house. Ichirō retired to his bedroom, a rather cramped space with a bed, dresser, and a desk where his computer sat, almost always used. Ichirō sat down at his computer, and turned it on, still listening to the sounds of his brother's shouts about unfair losers and the endless patter of rain.

He opened up his e mail, and saw that he had two new messages, one which was from a good friend of his.

-_Ichirō_

_I've been doing some hacking on our latest game forum, and you wouldn't believe what those jerks have been saying. Apparently, our whole "theory" is a big flopping joke, but we'll soon be able toprove them wrong. I've managed to get a demo of the idea on a floppy disc. Anyway, call me as soon as you get this e mail, or get me on the webcam._

_-Nate_

A rush of excitement swept through Ichirō as he read, and once he was done he grabbed the phone that lay on his dresser and dialed Nate's number up. The phone rang for awhile as the call made its way from a small city in Japan to the state known as New York in America. Eventually, Nate's shrill voice picked up.

"Hello?" He sounded as if he had just awoken, which caused Ichirō to raise his eyebrows.

"Oh, sorry, Nate. Did I wake you?" Ichirō asked, tapping his fingers lightly on the computer keyboard. "No? What time is it there? Only ten AM?"

Nate replied with a yes and went on, still sounding groggy. "I pulled a total all nighter, and I'm still going." He bellowed out one long yawn before going on. "Anyway, Ichirō, I making some excellent progress. You wouldn't believe what I've gotten up and running. You know that franchise? Pokémon or something?"

"Of course, my little brother's into it. Why?"

"Well, the creator must be a millionaire by now, and it's only been around for three years. So, if kids who befriend monsters is an interesting concept, what if we could do something similar? That's always been our theory, but what if it's not just a game?"

"Huh? What do you mean, not just a game? You want to make TV show to go with the computer game too?"

Nate's voice went on in a frantic tone. "No, not exactly. Hang on, I'll e mail you the demo video that I managed to develop. I was doing this all night."

Ichirō's e mail made its usual beep to alert him to new messages. He opened up the latest message and clicked the link, which redirected his browser to a white window page. A video loaded up before finally beginning, depicting images of odd creatures marching about a vast green field.

"Not bad, Nate. But, what does it have to do with…?"

Nate quickly interrupted. "Well, that could be the storyline. Kids get a video game and suspect it to be a Pokémon rip off. They play the game, think it's kind of lame, but fun. And, it turns out that it's not a game at all, but a real world with real creatures. Wouldn't that be neat?"

"I don't know. How about a more subtle approach? I was thinking something along the lines of kids go to camp, see an odd aurora, get these odd devices, and are transported to this strange world. That's nearly as good, right?"

"Maybe…just try out the game. It's not too shabby if I do say so myself."

Ichirō did just that, clicking through a short tutorial that explained the controls and such. He was then redirected to a long list of different creatures, and scrolled through them all until he came to a neat ninja one wearing a sort of kendo mask. Once selected, Ichirō was finally playing the game, running through fields as the odd creature and defeating other creatures.

"So, what do you call these things, Nate?" Ichirō asked while dodging a fireball that a dinosaur looking thing had just thrown at him.

"I'm thinking…Digimon. Like Pokémon, but instead, they're digital. Anyway, another kid contacted me, a hacker by the looks of it. I'm not sure where they're located, but they sound pretty smart. I just e mailed them the demo too, cause they sounded pretty interested. Anyway, they suggested the name."

This sounded a little eerie to Ichirō, who voiced that thought. "Are you sure that that was the brightest idea, Nate? I mean, hacker or not, they could be anybody. A kidnapper, a thief, maybe even some guy who plans on profiting from our idea. You never know." The lights began to flicker in his room, something that Ichirō paid little attention to, until they went off completely. "Hang on."

Ichirō ran out of his bedroom, and saw that every light in the house was off. He tried flicking the hallway light on, but nothing happened. He felt his heart beat faster when his arm collided into someone's chest, but he let out a breath of relief when he saw that it was only his fourteen year old brother, Eiji.

"What's going on?" Eiji asked, turning on the flashlight that he held in his hands. "The TV just shut off, and I wasn't even able to save my game on Pokémon Stadium."

Ichirō rolled his eyes, knowing that his brother would have stayed put if the game had still been on. "I don't know. I guess it's just the storm. Come on, I've got more flashlights in my room." Pulling his brother along, he let out a gasp of shock when he saw that the computer was still on and working. "Weird, everything else turned off." He slid back into his seat, and put the phone back to his ear. "Nate, are you still there?"

"Yeah I am. What happened?"

"Nothing, really. The lights and TV just went out. But, my computer is still on…"

Meanwhile, Eiji opened the gray curtains, and looked outside the window at the other houses on the block. Sure enough, everyone else was experiencing similar lighting difficulties, without storm enduring computer power. And to add to that, lightning was etched across the inky blue sky, zigzagging in every direction similar to a line chart.

"Well, anyway, how would you review the game?" Nate asked, sounding mildly curious. "That hacker kid that I was telling you about sent me a ton of creature designs via the web, and I used most of them. But you should recognize a few of your own too. Of course, I want your rating to also be based on the graphics."

Ichirō thought for a few minutes, thinking everything that had been said over. He had a suspicious feeling about this "kid" that Nate kept referring to, but he didn't really know how to bring it up. "I guess a seven and a half out of ten, for now anyway. Are you certain that this "kid" can be trusted, Nate?"

"Of course, I mean, he sounds like a kid. And, he's obviously creative. You saw the designs, right?" Before a response could be uttered, Nate went on. "And, anyway, I really think that this is going somewhere. All three of us can partner up for this and make a company, which will lead to raise and wealth. How's that sound?"

His mind felt muddled with thoughts, and overall, Ichirō didn't know how to respond. "Nate, I'm not too sure…"

"Really, I've spoken to the kid on the phone a few times, and I'm certain that he's just an eleven year old computer prodigy or something. Want me to e mail his e mail address?"

Ichirō had never been the best at standing up for himself, and being upfront with his best friend sounded too rough. With a hand trembling slightly from irritation, Ichirō closed the game demo page, and grew even more irritated when the page wouldn't close. It wasn't normal for his computer to suddenly grow slow.

He turned away from the computer screen, clutching the phone tightly in his hand. "Nate, you're really ambitious, and I respect that. But how can you trust some kid that you met online to not be crazy? Do you know how easy it is to alter your voice over the phone? And what if we're sued for using _his _ideas?"

" Ichirō?" Ichirō felt Eiji pull on the sleeve of his shirt, but he simply waved him away as he listened for Nate's response. All he was getting was silence on the other end, and Eiji continued trying to talk to him. " Ichirō? Look at the screen!"

A gasp rang through the room as Ichirō finally put the attention of his eyes onto the screen. The demo page was still up, but the game itself was not the things showing on the brightly lit computer screen. Through plenty of dots of black and white static, a face showed through, and not a human one. It's features were not visible through the static, and Ichirō felt confusion go through him like a wave.

Both himself and his brother gasped again when the face spoke. Eyes wide, Ichirō listened to the face's words with perked ears. "Thank you for opening the doorway for me, human. It is open, and there are only a few kinks to work out now." There was an eerie chuckle, one that sent a deep shiver down Ichirō's back. "Thank your trusting American friend for me." And with that, the face was gone.

With both boys staring open mouthed at it, the computer's web pages closed and the device shut itself down. A roar of thunder crashed through the house and neighborhood, leaving the boys feeling even more frightened than before. One by one, each light in the house flickered on until their power was up to par.

Eiji's eyes were not as wide as before, but he stared at the computer with a suspicious look for at least two minutes before sitting down on Ichirō's bed with a dazed stare. "W-what just happened?"

…

With Eiji convinced that it had all just been a game, Ichirō was left by his brother, who hurried back to play his video game. Ichirō lay on the plaid sheets of his bed, trying desperately to convince himself the same thing, but he was pretty certain that lying to himself was the brightest of plans.

Hands calming down finally, Ichirō put the phone to his ear again, and was a little shaken when Nate's voice shouted on the other end. "What happened? Are you okay? Was there an earthquake of some kind?"

"No…" Inhaling and exhaling sharply, Ichirō explained everything that had just occurred to Nate, and was met with a still silence for a while.

"Sounds like the Poltergeist or something." Nate stated, finally speaking. "It's nothing to be too frightened of. Maybe that hacker kid that I told you about edited the features, and that creature was part of the storyline, you know?"

But Ichirō didn't know, and while Nate went on about sending the demo disc to companies, he thought about this mystery "kid". He had a strange feeling that he had just met that same kid just a few minutes earlier, and not through the usual chat room.

Out of exhaustion, Ichirō drifted off to a restless sleep. As always, he had a dream, but this one was unlike the previous that he had had about computers and winning awards for technical skills. In this recent dream, the background was nothing but blinding white while a voice explained words to him.

"The gateway has been open," A whispery, feminine voice echoed through Ichirō's head frantic, but informative. "And now only time will tell when Chrysalimon will arrive in your world, human. And when he does, he will die; for he has been wounded enough by us. However, he won't turn into data before leaving an egg, an egg that will pose as the hugest threat for us all."

Ichirō couldn't move, but could only stay still and listen to the untraceable voice.

"Eleven and a half years from now, the egg will hatch. Before then, a team of children will have to be chosen. For children have the quickest time bonding with Digimon. You have to, for you and your friend were the ones who started this, willing or unwillingly. You must end what you have begun!"

Digimon? Wasn't that the name for his and Nate's in-progress video game? He couldn't do a thing, but listen to these odd almost accusing words. What was going on?

"You will know that the time has come when your niece walks through the doors of your workplace, asking for you. She will play a role in what is to come, but the question is, will you accept the upcoming fate?"

The words echoed, until everything faded and Ichirō woke up with a silent phone and more muddled thoughts. Ichirō thought about the voice's words, and thought about the niece that he did happen to have, a one year old who lived in France with his older sister, Sayuri, a fashion magazine editor.

But, everything was still confusing in Ichirō's mind, and to top it all off, a creature was standing by his bed. It looked exactly like the one he had chosen in the game demo, but it earned a sharp inhalation of breath rather than a game review.

"I am Kotemon, sir." The creature bowed low to Ichirō, but it was impossible to see its face, which was covered by a kendo mask. "I have been sent to assist you in the future, and I am your partner Digimon."

**There you have it, the first chapter of my Digimon story, "Digimon Force: Dawn of the Tamers". I wishfully hope that it piqued enough interest in fellow Digimon fans, which will hopefully lead to plenty reviews. If not, I'll still enjoy updating this, since it has a simple, but entertaining plot.**

**Please review, readers!**


	2. A Membership

**Chapter 1: A Membership**

"All right, class," Yukito Tanaka quickly stuffed the deck of cards that he held into the front compartment in his backpack. Quickly, he turned his hazel eyes to the front of the classroom, where his teacher, Ms. Yoshi was shuffling a stack of loose white papers. With all eyes on her slim figure, Ms. Yoshi smiled slightly, and began to walk up and down the aisles of desks, passing out a sheet to each of the class's twenty five students. "Each of you has a chance to get a decent grade for mathematics at the moment. Take this quick quiz, don't be careless, and you might just earn extra credit."

Once all the sheets were passed out, glances were exchanged amongst the twelve year olds. The questions were certainly difficult for most of the children, and Yugi was finding it all to be dull and tiring. Within twenty minutes he had only managed to answer four of the fifteen questions, and time was slowly running out. He managed to respond to a mathematical sentence correctly, along with a rather long equation, but the struggle continued.

Propping his auburn-brown haired head up with his elbow resting on the top of his polished wooden desk, his bright hazel eyes studied each of his fellow peers as they faced the same problems as him. In the desk to his right, his best friend, Shun, was looking even more bored by the second. His dark eyes were slowly drooping into a dozing off state. Yugi nudged him quickly with his fist when Ms. Yoshi's watchful attention was preoccupied, and Shun instantly perked up, still looking dazed.

Neither boy could use their ability to speak at the moment, not with a quiz set in front of both of them. And especially not with a teacher on the lookout for cheaters at the front of the class room. So, with her attention still diverted, both boys communicated with the use of hand gestures. They weren't cheating, but trying to make plans for later on in the day. It appeared to be the only current fun thing to do, compared to the quiz. And perhaps conversing could help keep them awake for the rest of the school day.

"Do you still want your Hookmon card?" Yugi mouthed to Shun, keeping his hazel eyes fixated on the unaware teacher as he spoke. He glanced at his best friend who quickly nodded his head. "What about Pegasusmon?" There was another nod, and Shun's lips molded into a smirk as Yugi struggled to find a decent Digimon card to trade. "Anything?"

Yugi couldn't help wondering why Ms. Yoshi wouldn't look at the class to look out for cheaters, but grinned when he saw her bent over the computer on her desk. She was the young kind of teacher who went on dating sites often, and perhaps today she had become lucky. It was hard to tell, but at least she was lecturing Yugi or Shun. A faint white light shone her face as she typed furiously on the white keyboard; there was a chance that she was chatting.

"Do you still want Slayerdramon?" Shun ran the three main fingers of his left hand through his spiky blue hair, and looked at Yugi for an answer. "I'll give you two Ultimates and an Armor level for it!" He was daring enough to whisper his questions, especially since Ms. Yoshi still had her attention diverted. "Do you?" He asked impatiently as Yugi bent his head over his test in an effort to at least_ try _and finish it.

"Shh!" Miki Yagami glared at Shun's talking from her desk behind him. She was one of the many students struggling, which would be noticeable if life were an anime program. Every single student, excluding Shun and the four brainiacs of the class, would have huge emphasized eyes and mushroom sighs if life were a cartoon.

As Ms. Yoshi finally looked up from her computer to gaze knowledgeably at each student, Shun quickly ducked and feigned a look of interested thinking over his answers. Yugi could practically see a giant sweat drop on his friend, especially since he was the more creative one out of the two. Shun was generally more practical at times, but he had a mischievous, sneering streak which could be displayed in Halloween and April fool's.

"Morioka, is there a reason to speak?" Ms. Yoshi's dark eyes were on the last named Shun as she spoke. Her eyes didn't let him out of her sight as she crossed her arms in disapproval.

Shun chuckled lightly and grinned sheepishly. "Not at all, sensei. I'm sorry!"

"He wanted to borrow my eraser." Yugi also felt a bit shy saying this. His cheeks were flushed with a pinkish tinge as he held up his gray, triangle printed eraser for inspection. "See, sensei? Shun wasn't cheating or anything, honest."

Ms. Yoshi trusted Yugi much more than the prankster Shun, so she simply sighed and nodded. "If you say so, Tanaka, but please remind our friend, Morioka, that he needs to be a bit more productive with his school supplies. That way, we won't be here again, accusing each other of anything. Understand?" It had definitely been a long day for her.

"Of course!" Shun and Yugi chirped in a chorus of unison.

…

School let out promptly at three thirty, and every student was eager to leave. It was Thursday after all, and there was only one more day to go before the weekend became present with fun. Until then, friends met up with each other to spend the rest of the evening doing a variety of things. Some decided to spend the night pouring over their mandatory homework while others flocked to the malls in their own separate cliques.

Yugi and Shun were amongst the ones who had decided to stay after school to look at the list of activities that were posted on the main bulletin board in the school's entrance way. There had been the promise of new and fun after school clubs early in the school year, which was why the two twelve year olds checked the board frequently.

"Awesome! There's a karate class coming!" Shun covered the black print of the latest activities with an excited finger. "I'm going to have a tough time convincing my mom to let me go."

"Same here." Yugi agreed, taking in the six other new activities. "I wouldn't mind joining the chess club. If it's anything like my Digimon Battle Chess game, it should most definitely be rewarding in logical skill building, right?"

Shun shrugged, and made a horrified face. "Honestly? Chess? Don't you want some action?"

The truth was, Yugi wasn't really into athletic sports. Chess was fun in his opinion, especially since his computer game involved Digimon shaped chess pieces beating up each other. "I guess…"

"Where the heck is the art class?" A red headed girl who was taller than both of the boys by several inches, pushed into the crowd of kids that were clustered around the bulletin. "They better not be cutting art from school's again. It's ridiculous!" The girl clenched her fists, and pushed several long wavy strands of bright red hair behind her ear.

"Hello to you too, Aizu." Shun rolled his eyes at the newcomer. "Cranky, much?"

The tall girl glared at Shun with piercing green eyes. "Oh, shut up, will you? You were definitely cranky when I wheedled that stupid platinum Raidramon card out of you. So, why be hypocritical, Morioka?" She might not have been acting like it, but Aizu was one of the more mature students in their class, and just so happened to be rather brilliant in math. After watching Shun turn red from the trading card memory, Aizu turned back to the board. "Chess is actually quite fun if you're interested, Yukito-san. My uncle's teaching it at his coffee shop."

"They're teaching chess in a coffee shop?" Yugi asked, his expression puzzled.

Aizu nodded. "Yeah, you've seen it before. Its that secluded, old timer building on that cliff. Beyond a bunch of trees? There are sakura trees and bonsai trees all over the place, so you shouldn't miss it or anything. You'll have to take a test in order to get in, since my uncle's very particular with his students. You have to be smart and have a clear head for one thing."

"Uh, okay." Yugi and Shun pushed their way out of the crowded board, and hurried out of the school building with Aizu still following them. The two young boys stumbled their ways down the concrete steps that led from the school to the outside world. Aizu still followed them as they past gangs of happy kids and crossed the street on their way home.

"Stalking us or something?" Shun questioned teasingly.

Aizu ignored him, and began to walk rather quickly. "I'm headed in the same direction as both of you. There's chess practice today." She readjusted her bright blue knapsack which both boys knew was stuffed with art supplies and a few Digimon cards. She didn't look it, but Aizu was pretty decent when it came to collecting the famous franchise merchandise. "Are you interested?"

Yugi quickly glanced at the Agumon wristwatch on his wrist in order to check the time. "I guess so. Mom's not expecting me until five anyway. Besides, I have swimming practice tomorrow, so I better get it over with today. Have you seen my sister, anywhere?"

At that moment, two nine year olds joined the three older kids as they walked without stopping down an uncrowded sidewalk lined with family homes that varied in a multitude of colors and size. The boy was the smaller of the two, with curly dark brown hair and a small build. The girl was taller than him, and was actually only shorter than Yugi's height by about a foot with wavy red-brown hair and snapping hazel eyes.

"Were you trying to ditch me or something?" She asked Yugi jokingly.

Yugi reassured her with a smile. "Not at all, sis. Hey, Ben." He said, greeting his younger cousin. He turned to Shun who was walking briskly on his right. "Shun, can you walk both of them home? You know, make sure they don't get kidnapped or anything?"

Shun shrugged. "Sure, what the heck?" He playfully punched Yugi on the arm, before turning the corner in the direction of their houses. "So, Ben, you have any cards that you're willing to give away?"

"You Digimon fans are such dorks." Mariko stated, rolling her eyes as Ben nodded and pulled cards out of his pocket eagerly.

As the three kids disappeared around the neighborhood corner, Yugi began to follow Aizu closely down a single solitary block that led to a rocky hillside scattered with jagged edged stones and tall, shady trees. A long flight of concrete stairs appeared to be built in to the base of the hill, and the sun was blocked by the surrounding trees, casting an eerie feeling into the atmosphere. The soles of their sneakers made dull thuds against the steps as Yugi continued to follow.

The shadows made him hesitant ever so slightly, but he simply plucked up the courage needed to remind himself that there was nothing to fear. Sometimes his imagination got the best of him, and he was forced to think up images of creepy creatures of darkness that lurked in the shadows, awaiting prey. All because of his stupid 'creativity'.

Yugi shivered as a strong breeze rippled the hill's grass, and sent chills onto his exposed neck. He zipped up the blue jacket that he was currently wearing, and adjusted the collar so that it covered his neck enough to keep warm. "Are we nearly there, Aizu?" He asked, looking at the girl whose attention was completely on what looked like a mobile phone. "Aizu?" He walked a little quickly as they reached the very top of the hill.

Looking back towards the town below with its wide landscape of buildings, neighborhoods, and homes, Yugi saw just how far upwards those stairs had taken them. His hazel eyes tore away from noticing the height, since he did not want to end up feeling dizzy, especially not in front of one of his classmates. Turning around, he saw now that they were on a fascinating area of town.

The hill now seemed more like a mountain than anything to Yugi, who took in the design of the garden that stretched out in square feet that went on forever. There were tall blades of grass that shook in the wind and were as green and sparkling as pine trees. There were also the promised cherry blossom trees with flowers as pink as peach, and stubby bonsai trees amongst odd gray fountains and smooth large stones. Just like a picture that one would expect to see in a gardening magazine.

Wind blew, shaking everything, ruining the magazine image out of Yugi's mind in the process. A path of cobblestones began at the tip of the stairs and ended far beyond the natural scenery, where two buildings stood. They appeared to be homes, but the architecture wasn't completely familiar to Yugi.

He was used to the standard Western homes of his hometown, but the buildings had obviously been built with the original Japanese style in mind. The features were angular, with walls that resembled thick sheets of paper and a dark paneled roof with sharp curving points. One thing that was out of place were the pair of storybook style, oak double doors that stood on the larger house.

The cobblestone path led all the way to the front door of the larger of the two buildings, but Aizu and Yugi had to go under a tall white wall with an arch entrance, and past a large stone fountain with calm waters gurgling before they reached the front door.

"All right, Yukito-kun," Aizu finally began paying attention to her companion after she quit fiddling with her mobile phone object and stuffed it into the pocket of her paint splattered jeans. "We're here."

Yugi took everything in with wide, surprised eyes. "Your uncle owns this place?"

Aizu nodded. "Yep. He owns this hill too, plus the best coffee shop in town." She crossed her arms pridefully and beamed while the growing strong wind blew her long red hair all about her face. She casually pushed several strands back, arching her head back to stare at the darkening sky. "We'll have to make this quick, but it should only take twenty minutes tops regardless." She stepped towards the double doors, but made no move to open them.

There was a gasp of surprise on Yugi's part when the doors swang open automatically, revealing a view of the interior. There was a pristine glass counter attached to the wall, with expresso makers and an assortment of coffee mixtures and tea brands behind. Many rount glass tables were all about most of the large main room, and there appeared to be doors that led to restrooms and possibly the living quarters of the owners.

Yugi was quite surprised by everything so far. He had expected the chess club to take place in a rundown Starbucks managed by an eccentric uncle. This was definitely the opposite of the suave architectural coffee and tea shop that was set back from civilization, surrounded by the natural beauties of the Earth.

"Come on." Aizu pulled Yugi by the arm, dismissing his thinking about everything that had happened. "Doesn't seem like Uncle Ichiro is here yet." Inside there was only one other person, an older boy with shaggy blond hair sitting at a small glass table, reading a thick book. "Hey, Touya-san!"

The boy glanced up from the starch-white pages of his orderly novel, and sent a wave with the palm of his hand in their direction. "Aizu, good to see you." He looked at Yugi curiously. "Who's the newbie?"

"A kid from my class," Aizu turned to Yugi with a pair of serious green eyes. "Yukito-kun, this is Touya Sanban, an expert chess master and computer whiz."

"How's it going, kid?" Touya was definitely not twelve from what Yugi could see. He had to be at least fourteen or maybe even fifteen. Yugi felt a bit intimidated by this older teenage boy, but Touya seemed very friendly, and was grinning kindly. "What do people call you?"

"Yugi,"

"What, like the anime?" Touya chuckled. "Kind of ironic, huh, Aizu? Yu-Gi-Oh versus Digimon. Which would be the victor?"

Yugi grinned, thinking that maybe Touya was alright. He seemed to know about the Digimon show. "Digimon, no questions asked!"

Touya cocked his head after Yugi spoke, and looked impressed. "Do we finally have a member with common knowledge about the franchise? About time!" Touya closed the book in his hands shut, causing a single thud to echo throughout the room. "Anyway, Ichiro isn't here. He's doing some business in the nearby city. Yugi here can take the test regardless. I'm quite curious to see if he passes."

Less than ten minutes later, Yugi was seated at one of the circular glass tables, filling out a rather odd quiz. The questions weren't too weird, but they didn't have anything to do with chess for certain. Most of them had to do with various scenarios and involved multiple choice answers. There also happened to be essay questions that reminded Yugi of the exams that they took at the end of each school year.

'If you were in the desert, and you discovered a turtle on his back, struggling to regain composure, what would you do?'

Yugi simply stared at the question blankly, tapping his forehead with a pencil. "What?"

He was all alone in the main room of the coffee shop, but he could hear Aizu in the next room, talking seriously on the phone to someone. Touya had gone outside, and was also deep in discussion with someone. Yugi couldn't see who, so he simply went back to completing the test.

He felt just as he had in school when a math test had been set in front of him. Except, this entry test wasn't as difficult or tedious.

Aizu eventually walked out of the door to the apparent storage room of the coffee shop, and gave Yugi a questioning look. "Are you nearly done?"

"Uh, sorta."

Aizu walked to his side and glanced at his partially done test. She didn't say anything, but simply nodded. Once Yugi had filled out every question to the best of his ability, Aizu picked up the papers and organized them by straightening them out. "Good. Okay, come by tomorrow after school and you should have your answer."

"What time?"

"Um, around five I suppose?" Aizu looked deep in thought, but she gave a confirming nod. "Yeah, around five. Just get here before seven; that's our closing time."

Yugi had an odd feeling that there was something beyond closing time, but he didn't raise any questions. "Okay, I'll come by as soon as swim practice is through tomorrow."

He left the coffee shop for home with a tight feeling in his stomach. Yukito Tanaka had a feeling that something would be happening soon, but he didn't know when.

…

"How would you describe this Tanaka kid, Aizu?" Ichiro gazed at his young niece over the lenses of his round framed eyeglasses. He took in a deep breath and sat back in the brown armchair that he was sitting on. "Impulsive? Troublemaker? Quiet?"

Aizu thought the question through, and shook her head. "Not at all, uncle. He's pretty much your average twelve year old boy. More thoughtful than others, and considerate, but that's all that comes to mind." She leaned against the round glass table behind her, and tapped it occasionally. "From what I know, Yukito has a younger sister and his parents are middle class. His best friend is rather annoying, but he's generally okay."

"He seemed like a good addition to the team to me." Touya stated in a loud, casual voice. He too was leaning against the leather couch across from Ichiro's armchair. "Polite and thoughtful. What's his friend's name?"

"Shun Morioka, why?"

Touya shrugged. "We need a hyper kid. Someone who jumps to conclusions. It ought to balance out the team a bit. Don't you think so?"

"Wait!" There was another boy in the room as well, a kid with patted down blue hair and an epression that asked questions suddenly spoke. "Shun Morioka? He's my cousin! And, he would definitely be terrible!"

Ichiro sighed, and ran a hand through his chin-length, silky black hair. A lot had happened in ten years, besides aging. A battle would begin soon, and he was expected to lead a force against it. A bunch of kids, really. Not adults or military men. Just kids, most of whom would probably turn out to be no older than thirteen. He already had a twelve year old on the team, and that was young enough. Besides, she was a girl and his niece.

Turned out that that bit of the prophecy was true. His niece had walked in a month earlier when he had just been setting up his coffee shop. Ichiro was able to own the surrounding area of the shop because of the money Nate had given him when the Digimon games and trading cards had first come seven years ago.

He wasn't known to anyone as the co creator of the Digimon franchise, but according to Nate that didn't matter. He was still paid a huge amount of money for assisting in the designing and ideas for Nate's success story. Nowadays, Nate didn't seem to care about anything else.

"So, should we bring him in?" It seemed that an entire discussion had gone by without Ichiro noticing. He was only twenty six yet he felt worn out as he took in the impatient look on Shin Morioka, the most organized one so far. Ichiro nodded, and Shin lost the impatience. "Okay, then. Aizu, keep an eye on him, will you?"

Aizu nodded. "I'll try, but he's coming up tomorrow anyway. After swim practice is over or something."

"Won't work," Ichiro's words were sudden, and caused all three of them to jump. Six eyes of different colors were on him, so he continued. "We have some intense investigating to do, so he'll have to skip practice so that I can see him physically. I need to make sure that he's the correct one for the spot."

"How exactly do you plan to cancel a swimming practice?" Shin questioned. "Those kids in town are pretty competive about their sports."

"Scholars lie when they say that money can't buy everything."

…

"What do you mean swimming's canceled?" There was a loud uproar near the pool as the dozen kids on the team surrounded the soccer coach in their swimming trunks, goggles, and caps.

"Just what I said." The soccer coach read something on his clipboard before addressing the kids. "Mr. Odiko quit his job today, so at the moment there will be no swimming."

Yugi didn't really particularly mind the news. He didn't care much for swimming anyway. He hated the chlorine that stayed in your system even after you left the pool. He hated the taste of the pool water. He hated the feeling of his goggles digging into the skin around his eyes. In general, he hated practice. Yugi had only signed up in the first place to avoid tofu night at home.

He could usually get away with having dinner at Shun's house on Friday nights, for his mother hated when he or his sister tried to get out of eating extremely healthy. Tonight, Yukito would just eat as much as he could and hope that he could beg his father to sneak to a drive thru. Mariko could help convince him, since she was good at that.

After changing hastily into his regular clothes in the boys' locker room to avoid the angry athletes, Yugi struggled to peel his goggles from around his neck as he made his way out of the school and to his bike which was parked in an empty bike rack in front of the school.

He found that he couldn't pull the goggles farther than his forehead, so they were stuck. As he swung one leg over his bike and hopped on, Yugi decided to worry about once he was home. Besides, even with his red-brown curls, he looked somewhat like Tai or Davis from the Digimon Adventure shows. Hopefully he looked more like Tai since Davis was kind of obnoxious.

Yugi pedaled harder in the direction of that weird hill top with Aizu's uncle's coffee shop. It wasn't a bad bike ride, with the slight breeze rippling his curly hair, but he faced a rather tiresome issue once he reached the cement stairs. Yep, Yukito Tanaka was left with the one option of lugging his bicycle up the stairs, and he did so.

Fifteen minutes passed, followed up by one or two more minutes. Soon, Yugi reached the very top, and was glad to finally lean his bike against one of the shady tall trees that partially surrounded the coffee shop. After catching his breath, Yugi began to try and pull his pair of swimming goggles off once more to no luck.

He continued pulling at them, and seemed to be making some progress as he hurried through the doors of the shop. Unike the day before, there was the strong aroma of coffee brewing in the air, but Yugi scarcely noticed it as he barged inside.

"Did I make the chess team at all?" He asked, still pulling at his goggles. Aizu, who sat at a table shuffling a deck of cards, looked slightly surprised, but nodded.

"Yep, you did. My uncle Ichiro is in the back. He has all of the equipment to give you."

"What kind of equipment?" Yugi asked curiously.

Aizu replied calmly. "Well, you know. Strategy guides and instruction manuals. You know, the works."

"Right." Yugi still had that weird feeling in his stomach. Something was going to happen soon. He just knew it. He passed Aizu and went through one of the doors near the back of the shop where Yugi assumed the storage room was located. "Ichiro-san? Hello!"

There wasn't much to be seen in the storage room of sorts. There were boxes all over the places, cardboard and wooden. Five filing cabinets were located in the corners of the room, right next to glass boxes that appeared to be displaying something. They were the kind of glass display tables that you saw in video game stores.

Curious, Yugi made his way to the displays, and gasped when he saw the Digimon cards shown. It was surprising for the table to be showing off Digimon cards, but it was also surprising that most of the cards were honest to the sky rare ones!

"Wow!" Yugi murmured with amazement, not noticing the figure that had appeared behind him.

"It didn't take much to get those cards, unless it's considered a lot to beat a sea of school children to get to the merchandise store." Stunned for a split second, Yugi spun around to face the tall man behind him, who simply beamed behind a pair of round glasses. "Yukito Tanaka, I take it?"

Yugi's heart was still recovering, thumping loudly and embarrassedly. He managed a single nod.

""I'm Ichiro Ogawa, the owner of this quaint little coffee shop." Quietly, Yugi was led back into the main coffee room, where Ichiro kept speaking. "Aizu, as you probably guessed, is my niece. Anyway, you own Digimon cards, correct, Yugi?"

"Um, yeah…" Yugi managed both a nod and a one word response.

"Good. What is your most powerful card?"

Yugi knew the answer to that one right away. "My Slayerdramon card, of course."

Ichiro looked deep in thought. "Ahh, Slayerdramon? That one used to be rather rare, but they are still rather uncommon today." Ichiro eyed the goggles that were stubbornly plopped onto his head still. "You greatly resemble Tai with those on." He said with a chuckle before plopping a bright blue duffel bag into Yugi's arms. "Here is everything you'll need for chess, Yukito. Just look through everything and don't hesitate to come by if you have any questions, okay?"

Yugi nodded, and managed a grin. "Okay, thanks!"

He was glad to be out of the shop, since he wanted to be rid of his stomach's weird feelings.

…

Yugi pushed himself to pedal as fast as possible home. He took a rough swerve to the right as he neared his neighborhood, and passed Shun's house, followed by Ben's house. Soon, he was pushing down hard on the brakes as he skidded to a halt in front of his house.

The Tanaka house was a simple one, built tall and lean instead of squat and wide. There were two tall trees rivaling the house's pointed roof, so the house and grassy front lawn were darkened with shadows at nearly all times of the day. The house had a total of four bedrooms and two bathrooms, there was a garage in the back, and a gate on the side of the house led to the tiny backyard.

Yugi parked his bike there, and dashed into the house hurriedly, clutching the blue duffel bag in his arm. "Hey Mom, hey, Dad!"

His father looked up from his laptop computer as his only son ran passed the entrance into the kitchen. "Ah, Yugi! Before you even ask, we're going out tonight. No tofu at all!" The father and son shared a grin before Yugi hurried down the hallway.

Yugi's mother simply waved from her laid out position on the couch as he ran through the den to go up the stairs, but this was only because she was busy on the phone, chattering to a fellow health nut. Yugi passed his sister's room, where Mariko was busy doing her homework in her usual organized way. Eventually, Yugi made it to his surprisingly neat room.

He dumped his backpack and the blue duffel bag onto his wooden, four-poster bed with its Agumon comforter. He then closed his bedroom door, and plopped down onto his bed to begin emptying out his stuff. It was Friday evening now, so there wasn't any worry about homework in the air. Instead, Yugi planned on looking through the manuals given to him by the chess instructor. Then, he hoped to look through his deck of Digimon cards to see if there were any that he no longer cared for. He usually spent Saturday afternoons at the park with Shun and his cousin, Ben, trading and playing around with their Digimon cards in their tree house.

With the duffel bag unzipped, turned upside down, and held over Yugi's pillow, a few things fell out and landed on the bed. There appeared to at least be one book, along with what appeared to be cards, and a cell phone looking thing, which bounced off the pillow and clashed against the dark brown night stand beside the bed. The outcome was that the object unimpressively rolled out of sight at the edge of under the bed.

Yugi picked up the book first and foremost, inspecting it with studying hazel irises. The cover didn't say anything about chess, it was simply titled, _Explanation. _Yugi found this to be a little odd, so he simply flipped through the pages, and saw that there were several paragraphs to be read.

"Lot of stuff to read up on for a simple club for chess." He commented, putting the book down and picking up the cards that littered the top of his pillow. He recognized the logo on them before he flipped them over for inspection. They were most definitely Digimon cards. "Huh?"

Suddenly, a faint beeping could be heard-coming from underneath the bed!

Quick on his feet, Yugi jumped off and reached an arm underneath the bed, twitching his fingers as he grabbed at the lit up screen of the object from earlier. He ended up sticking his head underneath in order to close his fingers over the object to pull it out.

Yugi crawled out and hopped back onto the bed, with the object in his hand. He gasped slightly when he finally looked at the thing enclosed in his fist. "A Digivice?" He wasn't too certain if he was asking a question or implying a statement. It was difficult to tell. But as the words "SWIPE A CARD" flashed on the circular screen in big, bold white letters, a hurricane of emotions went over Yukito Tanaka. "I don't get it?"

What would a chess club be doing with Digimon cards and toy Digivices? Was the one in his hand even a toy? It didn't look anything like the ones on the show, with its crimson red strap that allowed it the luxury of dangling, and its oval shaped black screen along with the three buttons that formed a triangle. And then there was the built in scanner to mention. Perhaps the chess club was advertising new Digivice toys? That explained the rare Digimon cards a bit.

One thing was for certain; if he was going to swipe a card then it would have to be one of his best.

Yugi carefully picked his Slayerdramon and settled it in front of the scanner. He wasn't too sure on how he was supposed to do it, but he figured that it couldn't be any different from the many times he had swiped the credit card for his mom at the grocery store check out.

"All right, here goes nothing." As the card went sliding through, tiny sparks flew out of the slot and showered onto the bed covers and Yugi's exposed arms. Yugi gasped as the sparks settled and dissolved without leaving a sign of existence. Yugi pulled the card out of the slot and watched as the Digivice screen glowed elated. "What now?"

**So, not much of a cliffhanger, but I think the chapter was growing a little too long. Feedback is very much wanted, since I like to know what readers on this site think. Yes, elements of Digimon Tamers are included, but I'm not basing the plot on the show or anything. Mainly just the Digivices and such, but that should be it.**

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**


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